There Has Never Been A Better Time Than Now To Be Single

There has never been as many single, unmarried people as there are right now — not just in the Western world, but globally. And collectively, single people dominate as the most powerful demographic of people, which is a historical first.

A record number of adults in the U.S. in 2017 reported themselves as not married — more than 45% of Americans, 18 and older, said that they were single (whether they’d been divorced, were widowed, or had always just been single). Even the average age for a (first) marriage rose to be in the late 20s for both men and women.

Living alone is also becoming more of a mainstream reality. Nobody is rushing to the altar so they can move in with their significant other. People are beginning to value their immediate families and friends over finding a partner for themselves or diving into relationships to have kids. And living alone and being single doesn’t mean you’re immature. Marriage, based on the 2017 U.S. Census Bureau report, is no longer commonly considered to be an official marker of adulthood.

Instead, more Americans categorize things like having a formal education or having a full-time job to be more important than the person’s relationship status as an indicator of maturity and success.

And don’t feel pressure to start dating. Self-esteem also doesn’t necessarily equate to who you’re dating or not dating — despite the fact that people who are skeptical of not getting married/putting off marriage suggest that single people are missing out on big boosts of self-esteem that come from being with someone long-term, it’s been proven that really only the beginning of a stable relationship will have any positive impact on your self-esteem. And even so, those who go on to have stable marriages ultimately don’t report having any significant difference in their self-esteem from single people or people who chose not to marry their partner.

Finally, single people are having more sex than those in marriages. There’s been a drop in how much sex adults (people ages 18 and older) have been having in the past couple of decades, but the drop is particularly apparent within marriages. You’re not missing out on much.